CHINATOWN PROMISES A VARIETY OF PALATABLE DELIGHTS AS ISLANDWIDE DELICACIES CONVENE AT FOOD STREET

A total of 18 hawker kiosks and 12 restaurants will set up operations on Chinatown’s Smith Street by the last quarter of this year. This is the result of a stringent and rigorous selection process by a panel of experts to choose Singapore’s best for Smith Street’s Food Street. Equally important is the big comeback of the streetside hawker stalls when Food Street opens for operations in a few months’ time.

Food Street is part of the Chinatown Experience Guide Plan, a multi-agency effort spearheaded by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) and supported by the Chinatown Business Association (CBA), a non-profit organisation which has been actively involved in the conceptualisation of Food Street. The Smith Street project is steered by a Street Market Committee, which also comprises the Ministry of Environment.

With Food Street comes the best of local fare served and enjoyed the way it used to be on the streets of Chinatown. Perennial favourites that will draw the crowds include Ah Balling, Barbecue Seafood, Char Kway Teow, Chinese Roast, Minced Pork Noodles, Mutton Soup, Ngoh Hiang, Popiah, Porridge, Prawn Noodle Soup, Rojak, Satay, Steamed Rice, Traditional Desserts, Wanton Noodle, Yong Tau Foo and Chee Cheong Fun. The 18 out-door kiosks will be managed by the CBA, which will also oversee two Central Kitchens from which food will be prepared and raw ingredients, cooking utensils and cutlery, stored.

New restaurants have also been selected to take up shop units on Food Street. Among these is the reputable “Tai Tong Restaurant”, which will be revived under the new name of “Da Dong Restaurant”. This is the result of ex-proprietor, Mr Leong Siew Kwai, joining hands with restaurateurs of Spring Court Restaurant, Boon Lay Garden Restaurant, Hillman Restaurant and Fatty Weng Restaurant to bring back this traditional Da Dong name, notable for its Cantonese cuisine.

The new restaurants will join the existing Smith Street pioneers, which include Soup Restaurant, Gorkhar Grill and Chinese Theatre Circle.

Mr Edmund Chua, the STB’s Deputy Director for Thematic Development said, “We are very thrilled with the good response from the public and the F&B industry which reaffirms their support and confidence in our dream for Food Street to become a haven for all food-loving Singaporeans and visitors. We are especially excited that the legacy of the former “Tai Tong” will be revived, adding to Food Street’s already attractive list of F&B offerings.”

In March this year, the STB had invited interested parties to apply for the food kiosks and shop units. The exercise, which closed on 23 March, saw an overwhelming response of 175 applications, 134 of which were for hawker kiosks and 41 for restaurant shop spaces. A selection panel of 13 culinary experts, food critics, representatives from F&B associations, the CBA, the Kreta Ayer Citizen’s Consultative Committee, the STB, and Mrs Juliet David, the Culinary Consultant for the project, shortisted the operators based on stringent criteria such as the track record and reputation of the operators, the historical linkage to Chinatown, the food and operating concept proposed, and, most importantly, the quality of food.

"To ensure objectivity, the panel went on food-tasting trips around the island to test-taste the applicants’ food. We also interviewed those shortlisted to ascertain their commitment to this project,” said Mrs Juliet David.

This approach was preferred to the tender system as the latter will often result in the highest bidder winning, and not necessarily meet the objectives of securing the best mix and quality of food.

Chinatown Business Association’s Chairman Mr Koh Tian Seng said, “We are positive that with the return of these food operators and open-air dining, there will be spill over benefits to other businesses in Chinatown. The vibrancy and activities that are going to return to Smith Street initially and the rest of Chinatown eventually, will certainly bring back the hustle and bustle of the past.”

Smith Street is currently undergoing a S$1 million construction to convert it to Food Street. When operational in a few months’ time, there will be an outdoor eating area for 300 persons.